


What if Joker Wasn't Joker

by Quinns_Clown



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Batman (Movies 1989-1997)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-07-12 17:10:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7114834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quinns_Clown/pseuds/Quinns_Clown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We all know the clown prince of crime, but what if he got the help he needed before he became the clown he is?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fanfic I've posted, not the first one I've written though, decided to go with one of my more normal ones to start. Constructive criticism is always welcomed and encouraged. Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes, I try to correct them but sometimes I miss them.

Chapter 1:  
Just a normal day, well sort of, it was normal for Jack, a young man of about 14. His father normally never home and his mother struggling to keep them from going down hill in a ball of fire. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if his dad wasn't such a useless drunk that only stuck around because he was too mentally unstable to be on his own. Then again maybe it'd all be exactly the same.  
It was about 9 at night, Jack had just finished his homework, not that he really wanted to, it was just one of the things he did to keep his mother happy. Just a few minutes had passed when his father walked through the door, the usual stench of cheap beer following him, destroying the whole aroma of the house. Only another second passed before he began grumbling which quickly turned to shouting random things. Jack stood in the entry to the kitchen,watching as the man tripped and stumbled about the living room. A twisted sort of smile came to Jack's lips that showed he enjoyed it, even though he shouldn't.  
It wasn't long before Jack's mother arrived, standing behind him. He watched as his father began walking toward them. His mother back away, but Jack stood still. His father stood about a foot away. "Jack boy. I haven't seen you in so long." The man spoke in slurred words, reaching forward to try and place a hand on the boy's shoulder. Just as he was about to, Jack stepped back, making the man stumble even more, a dark chuckle escaping as he did.  
"Don't touch me you low-life good for nothing piece of--"  
"Jack! Go to your room!" His mother shouted, just loud enough to get him to move. Instead of obeying entirely Jack just slid off to the side, clearing a path between the two adults. Jack's father began chuckling, just like Jack a few seconds previous.  
"You think you can control? No, he's just like me." The man spoke the best he could, little fits of laughter breaking up his words. "He's... Just... like me..." The man repeated his words, laughing even harder than before. Jack's father pulled from his coat pocket an old looking knife. Jack's mother backed up until her back was against the counter. He was now laughing like a maniac, walking closer, a horror movie scenario come to life. Before long all that could be seen was a bloodied knife stabbing repeatedly into the woman.  
Jack's father turned and looked at him. "You know Jack..." A short chuckle followed his words. "You're going to be just like me..." He walked closer, stopping just a foot away from the boy. He quickly thrust forward a hand, gripping Jack's face firmly with his hand, forcing the knife into the boy's mouth. The taste of his mother's blood filling his mouth. The next moment was an agonizing pain that struck Jack harder than what had just happened to his mother. He wanted to cry but just couldn't, nothing happened, he was completely numb at this point. A bit longer of the mind numbing pain and he felt it switch sides.  
"You know Jack, I'm not doing this to hurt you. I just want you to smile." He spoke aggressively as he tore into the other side of the boy's cheek. At this point blood had been pouring from his mouth and gushing down his front. Just as his father was able to make the gashes even he seemed to come to his senses, he backed away and became unbearably pained. He took a final step and held the knife to his wrist. This was Jack's last sight before he fainted, hitting the ground hard as he did.


	2. Chapter 2

About 25 years passed and Jack had grown to be 39, the nightmare of an evening still printed fresh in his mind, the scars on his cheeks just another reminder he faced everyday in the mirror. The pain never faded and the memory refused to dim. It ran constantly, it drove him to madness. Despite his "control" on the subject he still ached, he still felt the same as he did that night. The few people that talked to him, the bartender mostly, suggested he talked to someone, got a friend or something. The idea of a friend seemed logical, easier actually, but there was a problem, nobody really seemed interesting. Not even the people that were at the bar nearly as often as he. Not one person stood out from the rest. That was it then, professional help was all he could do to help himself.

Jack decided just to pay for professional help, mostly since a friend was just illogical. Most people avoided him, called him a freak, gawked at his disfiguring scars, or just plain old ignored him like a bad joke told far too many tijmes. It was bad enough Jack had to deal with everyone treating him like a creep, pointing their kids in another direction and treating him like an animal, now he had to admit to having a mental issue and seek out help for it.

Jack sat silently in the corner of the waiting room for the psychiatrist's office. He knew little to nothing about her, just that she was some young, new doctor and was supposedly the best at understanding people like him. A kind, welcoming woman's voice broke the silence. "Mr. Napier, doctor Quinzel will see you now." The voice was inviting enough, but Jack still couldn't believe he was actually here. He stood up quietly and walked into the well lit room.

"Hello, Mr. Napier. Please sit down." She gave a big smile, almost like she didn't even see his scars. "My name is Harleen Quinzel, you may call me whatever you'd like." Harleen gave off a more friendly feel than she did professional.

Jack sat down on the white couch across from her. He still felt a bit awkward to have to be there. "Alright Harleen... I don't really have much of an idea what to talk about, never really done this." He admitted quietly.  
"That's alright, there's absolutely no right or wrong way to do this. I just want you to know that in here, we're friends, an' I want you to feel that way too." Harleen gave him another sweet and comforting smile. "Why don't we start off with why you came here?"

"Well..." Jack thought for a while, what was he supposed to say? "The bartender told me that the beer bottles weren't good therapists." He chuckled a bit, just to try to settle his nerves.

A soft chuckle also escaped from Harleen as she started to write in her notebook. "I didn't think they would." She responded in a joking tone.  
Jack's eyes lit up a bit as he heard the little laughter come from the doctor. "I decided to listen and I found you."

"Well, I'm glad you did." She started to sound a little more serious, but not too terribly so. "Do you want to talk about anything specific? Like why you drink? Or maybe your friends?" She asked, not really sure if it would hurt him or anger him.

"I don't actually really have any friends." Jack responded, avoiding the topic of his drinking problem.  
"Hm, must be something wrong with 'em." She let out another small laugh. "I can relate though. I'm pretty new to Gotham, I don't really know a lot of people yet."

"There really must be something wrong with people then, anybody that would deny your friendship might have a serious mental disorder." Jack commented quickly.

A light blush crept across Harleen's face. "Well, aren't you just a sweet heart!" She smiled again, not really concerned by how unprofessional she seemed.

The rest of the session was mostly just a bunch of nonsense about the places to see in Gotham and other, not so useful information. This made therapy seem a bit less useless. It was fair to say that Jack actually found Harleen fun. Just as Jack was leaving he realized just how much he missed actual conversation with people other than the bartender.

"Mr. Napier!" Harleen chased Jack down the stairs of her building and managed to catch him just before he left. "You left your jacket!" She panted slightly, holding out and old looking purple jacket.

"Keep it." Jack smiled before actually leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two as I promised, my uploads won't be as quick normally, but as I said in the first chapter I've been working on these for a while. I'll probably post one of my other fics a little later, maybe not tonight though.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel so bad for not updating this story in so long. I lost the notebook I wrote it in. T.T
> 
> But I found it, so here's the next chapter.

Harleen smiled as she brought the jacket back to her chest. She never really felt comfortable keeping anything from anyone, especially someone she just met, but Jack's coat was an exception. She spent a minute just standing there, cheerfully holding the purple jacket.

Jack made a good first impression that left Harleen wondering what he would be like later in their friendship. She quietly turned and walked back up the stairs, returning to her office. Once she reached the rather large room, Harleen shut the door and sat down in her chair, more laying across it really. She pulled the jacket up over her legs to rest on her lap and read over her notes, most of what she wrote were just the jokes he told her, as well as the places to see and the clubs to hang out at.

Before long, there was a soft knock at the door. "Harley?" A familiar voice asked before the most recognizable face poked out around the door. Selina quietly crept in and made herself at home on the sofa.

"Hey, cat." The blonde looked up for a second before glancing back at her notes, rereading them.

"What's with the Jacket? Your boyfriend give it to you?" Selina teased her.

"What? No! He's not my boyfriend!" Harley panicked and let to last bit slip.

"Ooh, so there is a guy! Do tell!" Cat spoke tauntingly, just to hide all the honest curiosity in her voice.

"I said there's no one." Harley jumped to her defense, swiping some of the hair out of her eyes. "He just kind of left it here." Harley, being unable to lie to Selina, tried her best to hide the faint blush that crossed her cheeks.

"So he's a patient, that's dangerous, Harls." Selina smiled, continuing to tease her friend.

"No! It's nothing like that... Ya know what? Just forget the thing." Harley pulled the coat from her legs and threw it at the couch. The purple cloth landed on Selina's extended legs. She pulled the jacket up to examine it closer.

"You know, Harls, I saw the guy who owns this come in. He's not exactly a wonder to look at." Selina grew rather serious.

"It's not all looks, Cat, he's funny." Harleen watched her friend as she examined the coat further.

"Well, I'll let you get back to fantasising about your boyfriend, gotta go find Pam. Haven't given her hell for a while. She smiled in her friend's direction then draped the coat over the blonde's head. Hartley chuckled and pulled the coat down, but Selina was already gone.

"Uh... Bring in Mr. Nigma, please." Harley called out to her assistant. The session with Edward seemed to be more interesting than normal, even if it was practically the same as every other one. He'd come up with riddles, she'd answer than chuckle victoriously at the intrigued look he'd give every time she was right. Every time she was wrong, he'd laugh gently and wish her better luck next time.

Edward stayed for about an hour, occasionally he would look over the purple piece of fabric that hung over the back of Harley's chair, asking a few questions on it. He was refused an answer for every question about it.

**Author's Note:**

> This is just the first chapter I'll upload more later.


End file.
